Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Días once y doce años

Oh, this was one of my favorite days in Spain!  Even thought it was our last (*sobs*), we still had so much fun.  It was a gorgeous warm sunny day, the beach was just beautiful, fantastic food, as usual and then one more exquisite sunset.  We left for France the next morning, which was quite the adventure.....

 A little village, snow-capped mountains and a warm, glorious beach!

Mel wanted to become a mermaid.

Jess wanted to become a beach bum.

A happy girl showing off some happy smiles.

Awww...we found this little treasure in a giant oyster shell...she was such a pearl we decided to keep her.

Daddy showing baby the wonders of crabs.

Did I mention that having the girls with us was a GREAT way to get family pictures?!?!  
This one is framed in our house, now! :D

She doesn't like sand on her.  Not. One. Grain.

Daddy's crab.

Okay, so you can't see it in this picture, but Jess took it hoping to get the Guinness print on his swim shorts.
But, this is Ben being Ben at the beach.  He loves exploring.

Mel spending quality time with the baby.

 Tiff <3 Ben

True Love.

This is true love, too!

Ahhhh!!!  Nothing like wearing a beautiful long dress at the beach!  Seriously...the ONLY way to visit the beach!  
Unless, of course, you want to swim.

Four Happy Girls.
Sisters.
Daughter.
Niece. 
Love.

Okay....this is what Ben ordered for his lunch.  
However, it wasn't nearly as interesting as what Jess ordered.  She wanted meat...so she ordered...
Cow Stomach.
Yes, you read that right.  

One more Spanish sunset.

On our way out we took a picture of the ship-wreck house that we drove by almost every day. 

Leaving our island one last time.
We will be back!

We stopped in the Basque Country to get some breakfast.  Since we took off so early, nothing was open yet, so we waited until we were well on our way before we stopped.  

 YUM!  Check out that goodness!
It was soooo good....

 Taking a quick walk.

Come again?

FOOD!!!!!

The public bathrooms.
These have got to be some of the scariest bathrooms I have ever been in!
They were very clean, but they were soooooo scary!
You push a button to get the door unlocked and it opens on it's own.
Once you get in, the door closes by itself and locks.  (They had some like this in France and when the door shut a French woman's voice would start talking to you!)
When you're done, there is no button to flush the toilet, so you walk over to the sink, put your hands under the faucet and it sprays water on your hands, then spits soap out, turns off for a moment so you can lather your hands and then rinses your hands off.
You move down a step and the dryer turns on to dry your hands.
Pushing a button to let you back out, the door opens again and once you're out, it closes and then this VERY LOUD noise comes from inside the building....
It flushes the toilet, washes the ENTIRE room, sanitizes it, and the ones in France dry, too!
Yeah....pretty creepy!
I mean, what would happen if you didn't know how it worked and you stepped in before the door shut for the cleaning?!?!?!?  

We made it to Pau in pretty good time, only we weren't sure where to park.
We don't read French!!!! :(

Where's Waldo?
Who do you see in this picture?

Ben wants them to make a statute of him.

LOVE the arches!

Pretty girl under the pretty arches.

Jess wants a courtyard like this!

Ben's doors.

*laughs* This picture still cracks me up!

A church!  And they let you take pictures inside!
Like I said, the churches in Europe are soooo beautiful!

 Soooo sweet!

Girl hug!
Love her smiling eyes.

Jess is loving the adventure.
Ben misses Spain.

Relaxing at the cafe waiting for our drinks.

"Hmmmm...after we're done here, can we go shopping?"

 Kir Royales in honor of Dad!

Check out that frown!

No shopping today. :(

Another church.  Oh, I know that girl!
Hey...and that guy in the orange shirt.....

Yeah!  That one.  The cute guy with the cute baby!  I know them, too!
Horror of horrors!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
As soon as we get into France, what do we see?!?!?!?!?!!?
*dies of embarrassment and shame*

They had a Dr. Who moment.

Ben fell in love with this sign.  Unfortunately, they weren't open yet, so we didn't get to eat there.

The cathedral in Lourdes.

Looks like something from Disney Land, doesn't it?

Ben's first taste of Foie Gras.
Oh. Wow. 
So. Delicious.

My dinner!  Homemade raviolis with a very rich cream sauce and parmigiana....oh wow. 
I'm hungry again! 
The French really do know how to cook!

Lilyana is examining her money.

The streets at night.

Well, we are very near the end of our trip.  One more post and that will wrap it up!
We can't wait to go back again...maybe next year! :D
Until Thursday when the next post goes up...

Tiffany for BLT + MJ